corpse

C2 Topic:The Human Body

US /koɹps/ UK /kɔːps/ See IPA manual

Freq #3597

Meanings

1

noun
A dead body, especially of a person.

The hikers discovered a corpse at the bottom of the cliff.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a dead body, especially of... body cadaver

More anatomy carcass carrioncorsedbdust lich offal relics reliquiae

Word family

Forms corpcorpses

Derived forms corpse-gatecorpse-to-becorpsefuckercorpsehoodcorpselesscorpselikecorpsepaintcorpsercorpseycorpsiclecorpsymegacorpse

Related forms cemetery corporate corporation corporeal corps corpulent corpus death ghost intermentmanesshade

Appears in

Proverbs (1)

See all

Live fast, die young, and leave a good-looking corpse

Simplified etymology

Corpse comes from Latin corpus “body.” Until the early 18th century, it could mean the living body of a person or animal, so a dead body might be called a “dead corpse.” In time, corpse alone came to imply a dead person. Corpse and corps are historically forms of the same word.

Etymology

From Middle English, from earlier corse, from Old French cors, from Latin corpus (“body”). Displaced native English likam and lich. The ⟨p⟩ was inserted due to the original Latin spelling. Doublet of corps and corpus, and distantly of riff (via Proto-Indo-European). The verb sense derives from the notion of being unable to control laughter while acting as dead body.

*krep- Proto-Indo-European cors Old French corpus Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

The Human Body

External links

# corpse

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /koɹps/
**IPA (UK):** /kɔːps/
**Frequency rank:** 3597

## Meanings
1. A dead body, especially of a person.

## Examples
- The hikers discovered a corpse at the bottom of the cliff.

## Synonyms
- anatomy
- body
- cadaver
- carcass
- carrion
- corse
- db
- dust
- lich
- offal
- relics
- reliquiae

## Derived Forms
- corpse-gate
- corpse-to-be
- corpsefucker
- corpsehood
- corpseless
- corpselike
- corpsepaint
- corpser
- corpsey
- corpsicle
- corpsy
- megacorpse

## Related Forms
- cemetery
- corporate
- corporation
- corporeal
- corps
- corpulent
- corpus
- death
- ghost
- interment
- manes
- shade

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: *krep-
- Root: cors
- Root: corpus

## Etymology
From Middle English, from earlier corse, from Old French cors, from Latin corpus (“body”). Displaced native English likam and lich. The ⟨p⟩ was inserted due to the original Latin spelling. Doublet of corps and corpus, and distantly of riff (via Proto-Indo-European). The verb sense derives from the notion of being unable to control laughter while acting as dead body.

## AI Etymology
Corpse is from Middle English, from earlier corse, from Old French cors, from Latin corpus (“body”). Displaced native English likam and lich. The ⟨p⟩ was inserted due to the original Latin spelling. Doublet of corps and corpus, and distantly of riff (via Proto-Indo-European). The verb sense derives from the notion of being unable to control laughter while acting as dead body. In present-day use, it means a dead body, especially of a person. Derived formations include corpse-gate, corpse-to-be, corpsefucker, corpsehood, and corpseless.

## Topics
- The Human Body

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